Chapter I: The Goddess of Nocturnal
Chapter I: The Goddess of Nocturnal
{The Goddess of Nocturnal}
Blackness swirled around Death as he feel to the floor. With his hand gripping this chest, he began to stand, but to only to fall to his hands and knees, reviling a eerie, green crystal embedded deep into his chest. "Damn you, Crowfather." Death mumbled as a the floor beneath him began to split, allowing Death's orange eyes to see a pitch black tunnel.
Within seconds, the portal swallowed Death whole. The farther Death fell into the endless pit, the less his chest would burn with pain.
After collecting his thoughts, Death straitened himself as he fell, so he would land onto his feet. As he fell, his body began to feel strange, as if he was in warm water. Something began to tickle his back like a feather. Reaching behind his pale back, the rider of Despair found he had grown a tail.
His eyes widened as much as they could at the felling of wings. Slightly above his new tail, Death felt feathers, and he could fell his clawed fingers touch them.
Death blinked, but to only open his eyes wide once again. He had a muzzle. His bone mask had changed into the skull of a horse, along with his muzzle. "What is this?" the horseman said out loud. Looking up, Death was also able to see a nine inch horn sprouting out of his forehead. "Crowfather!" Death shouted in rage. Sighing in annoyance, Death's eyes landed on a light at the end of the tunnel.
Death's muscular body fell through the gaping hole. The Horseman landed on hard stone, causing it to crack and break under the amount of force Death applied to it. Stone shrapnel flew across the room. Standing to his full height, Death saw six human like creatures covering there faces from stone. All six of these creatures had features a horse would carry. They had muzzles, horse ears, tails, and fur.
The first pony had a lavender coat with dark purple and pink hair. She wore cloths similar to what a human would wear. She was wearing a purple top and skirt with black shoes. She also had horn. The second one had a white coat and Purple, curly hair, while also bearing a horn. She was wearing a purple dress, which strangely had multiple tares and rips in it. The next two had wings. The first was covered in a cyan coat with rainbow hair. She was wearing athletic attire, such as a jacket and track pants. The other has light yellow fur with pink hair. She was wearing a turtle neck sweater with a long skirt. Lastly, the two that bore no horn or wing. The first was pink. That is all she was, pink. Her hair was pink, her fur was pink, her sweater was pink, and her skirt was pink. The last of the six has orange fur with blond hair. She was wearing a plaid top that was tied near her breasts. She was also wearing a pair of blue pants. She was wearing a hat on her head, unlike the others.
After seeing the six colorful creatures, Death looked himself over. He look like the other creatures. His skin had changed to a pale fur that covered his whole body. Well, every part except the runes that are carved into his flesh and the green crystal embedded in his chest. His hair was the same. He also noticed that he could move something onto of his skull, most likely being ears. His Gantlets, and greaves were the same, along with his twin scythes. Looking behind him, he saw that he had a pair of large, black wings.
"Who are you and why do you interrupt me?!" a voice screamed from the side Death. The Horseman turn towards the voice, only to find a midnight blue creature, similar to the six behind Death. There were a few differences between them, though. The midnight creature had sharp teeth all throughout her mouth. Instead of cloths she wore armor across her body. The last noticeable difference was her eyes. Unlike the other creatures, her pupils were slits.
Ignoring the creatures question, Death asked, "What is this place?"
The armored being face when from annoyance to full out rage. "How dare you ignore me, Welp! I am Nightmare Moon, the Goddess of Nocturnal!" The angered 'Goddess' shouted.
Unexpectedly, Death, unlike his character, burst into laughter. "A Goddess! You! Don't make me laugh!" Death's Laughing soon slowed to a chuckle. "You are far from a goddess. I've seen and dealt with your kind before, Nightmare Moon. You are no more then a mortal." Death's laughter finally stopped and he returned to his serious tone, "Now answer me, where am I?"
At this point, Nightmare Moon was fuming with rage. With a battle cry, the nightmare shot towards Death. Acting quickly, the Horseman sprung his scythes into action, but at the same time Nightmare Moon created a glowing, magical sword.
Death rolled to the side, while combining his scythes together, creating much bigger one. He through it towards the recovering Nightmare, but she teleported to the side before it could strike her.
Death ran towards the armored being with his giant scythe in hand. The horseman stopped in front of Nightmare Moon with his scythe reared back. The two swung there weapons at each other. There blades bounced of each other with each swing the two powerful beings gave.
Death suddenly picked up speed in his swings. He swung his large scythe, nocking Nightmare Moon's sword to the side. The Horseman spun around with his scythe in tow. What happened surprised everyone in the room, except Death. As Death swung, a strange, violet, ghostlike creature swung it's scythe in union with Death. The result was catastrophic.
Luckily for Nightmare Moon she had put up a shield that took some of the force from Death's strike. Some. The swing launched her towards a wall, which shattered on contact. Now outside, Nightmare Moon hit the ground and slide a good 30 feet before coming to a stop.
Death sheathed his scythes to his waist and ran towards the gapping hole in the wall. When he reached the edge, he jumped down after Nightmare Moon.
Twilight Sparkle was in complete awe with the rest of the mane 6. She had just witnessed a being, as far as she could tell, more powerful then Nightmare Moon, who is much more powerful then Celestia! Without even thinking about it, she, along with her friends, ran to the gapping whole to watch the fight between Nightmare Moon and this other alicorn that literally fell from the sky. The 6 friends began to watch the fight in astonishment.
Death landed, making a small crater from his 20 foot drop. He drew his scythes and held them in a backwards grip, giving him the appearance of a cobra.
Nightmare Moon shakily stood, surprised she is not hurt more then she is. She looked towards the pale alicorn with anger. Her horn began to glow and soon after a glowing sword appeared in her hand. Turning her head to the side, Nightmare Moon spat blood of to the side and got ready to fight.
After seeing his opponent ready up, Death charged towards her.
Nightmare Moon's horn glowed brightly as several swords appeared around her. Using her arcane force, The armored fighter through them at Death.
Every sword that got close to the Horseman was cut down with his scythe's. As he approached the nightmare, he once again fused his weapons and swung at Nightmare Moon.
There blades clashed together, causing small shockwaves. Hit after hit Death did not grow tired in the slightest, while Nightmare Moon was gasping for breath after each swing.
Death rolled backwards out of the way of Nightmare Moon's next swing, throwing her of balance. Sheathing his scythes, Death leaped towards the of balance Nightmare Moon. After landing in front of her, the Horseman spun around and hit the armored nightmare, not with a scythe, but a huge hammer. Nightmare Moon was launched back into the stone building with such force, that the entire wall caved in, making the six spectators jump back.
The hammer Death was wielding disappeared in a black smoke as he walked up to the missing wall. Hoping over the rubble, Death found Nightmare Moon on her hands and knee's coughing up blood.
Hearing foot steps, Nightmare Moon looked up, but only to be filled with terror as she saw the pale alicorn walking towards her. She tried to stand, but her body refused to cooperate. She tried to teleport, but she was to afraid to use magic. She began to tear up as the foot steps got closer and closer.
Twilight and the rest of her friends were running down the halls to the main chamber. When they entered the chamber through a side entrance, they were filled with disbelief. Nightmare Moon, the scariest and most powerful pony they have ever seen was crying in fear.
Death walked up to the crying 'goddess' and stared her is the eye. "Please, spare me." Nightmare Moon cried. Her pleads fell on deaf ears.
Death brought his hand forwards, creating a magic, violet arm. The ghostly claw rapped around Nightmare Moon's body and lifted her up. She screamed in pain as the claw squeezed the life out of her. The arm reared back and through the crying creature into the nearest wall, embedding her into it.
The arm dissipated. Death started to turn towards the other six in the room, but a bright light emitted from the, thought to be dead, Nightmare Moon. A dark blue orb flew from the light and struck Death in the chest were the crystal was. Death looked down at it, despite the bright light. The crystal began to glow blue for a few seconds before returning to it's green color.
When the light dimmed, a creature that was more like the other six in the room was lying on the floor. Her fur was much lighter then Nightmare Moon. She was also a great deal smaller then Nightmare Moon. She came up to Death's chest, while Nightmare Moon was about as tall as he is. Her hair was completely different, being normal and not flowing in nonexistent wind.
Thinking his job was not done, Death walked up to the prone creature.
Luna pushed herself onto her knees with difficulty. She sigh in relief, but was frozen in fear when she saw the strange alicorn in front of her.
Death reached down and gripped the smaller Nightmare Moon by the throat and lifted her up to eye level.
The creature in Death's grip began to speak in a whisper. "W-w-what are y-you?"
"I am one of the four riders of apocalypse, Death."
Author's Note
Hope you like the first chapter of The Nature of Death. Give me feedback on my story, and please don't hold back your thoughts on the story, good or bad. Also, if you can, leave a comment about why you down voted the story, if you do. Have a good one!
Chapter II: The Goddess of the Sun [ Unedited ]
{The Goddess of the Sun}
The humanlike creature began to cry and shake In total terror. Death drew his scythe, but did not strike the mini Nightmare Moon. He would off, but a golden blast had hit him in the shoulder, flinging him a few feet and making him drop the whimpering Nightmare Moon. Death's feet skidded across the ground till he stopped.
Looking towards the group of six in the room, Death was surprised to see another figure had joined them. This creature was slightly taller then death. Her coat was bright white and her hair was multicolored. That's not it though. The amount of hair this white being had was absolutely, ridicules. She was wearing a white dress with a sun pattern on it's chest area. One last thing was that she looked PISSED.
"Do not touch my sister!" The being shouted with glowing, white eye's.
Death narrowed his eyes before drawing his other scythe. He stepped towards the angry creature, but was stopped by the creature with a rainbow mane. "Move, creature." Death spoke in a sinister voice.
The rainbow one looked fearful, but held her ground, "N-no." she said.
Twilight was trying to convince Princess Celestia to calm down, but that proved rather hard to do. "Princess Celestia, please stop! I don't want you to get hurt!" Twilight shouted at the top of her lungs
"Move, Twilight Sparkle." Celestia demanded, but Twilight stood.
"Please! Listen to me! He defeated Nightmare Moon, don't fight him!" Twilight screamed.
Celestia's angry appearance quickly vanished, and was replaced with confusion and fear. "What?"
Death was getting more annoyed by the second, especially with the pink one bouncing around him. "For the last time, move!" Death shouted at the five standing in his was, but alas, they only shook there heads no.
"What do you mean he 'defeated' Nightmare Moon?" Celestia asked Twilight.
"He fought with her and won. After he threw her into that wall," Twilight finger pointed towards the mangled wall." she changed to ... her."
Celestia was now filled with fear for herself and her sister Luna.
Death had had it. In burst wrath, Death shot forwards as a dark violet smoke, passing right by the wall of multicolored creatures. Unsheathing his scythes he got ready to strike.
Celestia's eyes went wide after seeing the display of dark magic, but she snapped her attention to the nearing scythe. Acting quickly, She teleported herself, her sister, and Twilight over to the rest of the mane six.
Death quickly turned himself around, but raised a eyebrow in confusion when he saw the dressed creature holding her hands in a surrendering manner.
"I do not wish to fight you, alicorn. I thought you were trying to harm my sister, but as Twilight Sparkle explained to me, you were fighting Nightmare Moon. I believe you mistook Luna as Nightmare Moon." Celestia finished.
"Alicorn? It must be the form I have. Interesting." Death thought. The horseman sheathed his scythes to his waist and crossed his arms over his chest. "Fine. Now that the conflict is resolved would you mind telling me were I am." Death said with slight annoyance.
Smiling, Celestia nodded, "Of coarse, you are in the country of Equestria." Celestia said as she turned to her cowering sister. Celestia bended down to her sister, and hugged her. Luna hugged her back with tears still fresh in her eyes with experience with Death. Celestia stood back up with her sister, then turned back towards Death. "Could I have the pleasure of knowing your name?" Celestia asked.
"I am Death" he simply answered.
Celestia looked shocked, "Wait, the Death? As in the Grim Reaper?" Celestia asked worriedly.
"Yes, I am 'The Grim Reaper' as you say, well at least when I let that side of myself lose. I am also one of the four riders of apocalypse, the other three being War, Strife, and Fury. Those three happen to be my siblings as well. Together, my siblings and I serve the Charred Council, as there champions." Death finished.
Everyone in the room was shocked hearing that Death was literally standing in front of them, with exception of Death of coarse. "Who are you seven, I assume that," Death pointed towards Luna, "is Luna, your sister?" Death asked the white alicorn.
"Yes, you are correct. As for me, I am Princess Celestia, Goddess of the Sun and, now co-ruler of Equestria." She said, looking over to a smiling Luna.
For the second time today, Death burst into laughter. "You are no god!" Death laughed, but after a few seconds he calmed down. "Nightmare Moon also clamed to be a goddess, but she was defeated, easily. If she truly was a goddess, then she could have beaten me in a heartbeat. The only true god is the Maker. He created you, me, everything. Your are no more then ageless mortal." Death scolded Celestia.
Everyone went wide eyed at Death's disrespect for Celestia. Furious, Rainbow Dash flew into Death's face. "I-", But was quickly interrupted by Death smashing her into the stone below his feet.
Rainbow Dash cried in pain. She felt her back and wings crack and break in multiple locations. Opening her eye's she saw that Death had a huge scythe held up above his head, ready to strike the wounded pegasus. Rainbow Dash closed her eyes, waiting for Death to end her life.
Twilight shouted, "Stop!" as loud as she could, gaining Deaths attention. "Please don't kill her! She was only trying to protect Princess Celestia's honor!"
Death looked down at the pegasus before sheathing his scythes to his sides. Reaching down, Death pulled the rainbow haired creature up to eye level by her throat. "What you did was honorable, but suicidal. Don't do it again." Death said to her. With little effort, the Horseman tossed the pegasus towards the group of seven.
The group caught her, but due to her broken bones, the rainbow haired creature screamed in pain as her friends laid her on the ground.
Celestia turn towards Death angrily, "Please refrain from hurting my little ponies, and I did not appreciate you denouncing my divinity, Death." Celestia said with a snort.
"Then expect less, Celestia. Anyways, can we get on with introductions?" Death inquired.
"Yes," Celestia said, while also worried about Rainbow Dash, "The one you just injured is Rainbow Dash. This is Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity." Celestia stated as she pointed to each individual.
"I don't mean to interrupt, Princess, but Rainbow really needs to see a doctor." Twilight said.
"Yes, you are right, my student." Celestia said.
"I assume you are heading to civilization of sorts?" Death asked the white alicorn.
"I am teleporting these six to Ponyvill after I grab the Elements of Harmony. Would you like to accompany us?" Celestia asked.
"I am not fond of teleportation. Just point me in the right direction, and I will meet you there." Death said to the group. "I will have to ask about these 'Elements of Harmony' another time." the Horseman thought to himself.
"If that is what you wish. When you reach the main entrance of this castle, go east and you will come across the quant town of Ponyvill." Celestia assured.
Death nodded before turning and walking down a hallway.
Celestia sighed. She knew that the Elements had to be activated, but now it seems she must wait till a chance springs up again. After gathering the five stone balls, she walked over to the awaiting group. With a bright light, the group of eight was gone.
Outside 10 minutes later
With trial and error, Death final made it out of the castle. Death began to walk towards a rotting bridge over a gapping raven. Knowing it would not support his weight, the Horseman backed up a few yards before running towards the raven at full speed. Reaching the edge of the cliff, the Horseman leaped across the hole.
Landing on the other side, he rolled to a standing position. He looked east and saw nothing but darkness. "This is going to be a long trip." Death thought, annoyed. "Despair!" Death shouted. Death jumped up, and a decaying horse rose from a eerie green portal. The horse had no fur, but rotting skin. It's face was resembled a skull more then a horse. The most of unsettling thing about the undead horse was it's mane and tail. The mane, along with the tail looked to have lost souls flowing like fire for hair instead of actual hair. These souls gave of a green glow like the crystal embedded in Death's chest. The glow also emitted from the horse's eye sockets and open maw.
This was Despair, the mount of Death.
The steed snorted happily once it's master landed on the saddle. With a kick of Death's feet, the undead equine shot forwards at speeds that would put Rainbow Dash's Sonic Rainboom to shame.
Author's Note
Hope you enjoyed the chapter! See ya in the next chapter on The Nature of Death!
